From 9/11 to Haiti: Executive Communications in a Crisis

When a crisis arises, the public wants and expects to hear from its leaders. The timing, tone and information provided by a chief executive will have a dramatic impact on how the public perceives how the government (local, state and federal) is responding to a crisis. Indeed, effective communications is one of the most important responsibilities a chief executive has in managing a crisis. Recent events from the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti to the attempted terror bombing of Northwest Flight 253 to the Fort Hood attack have provided situations where executive communications have been essential and sometimes lacking.

The role of the chief executive, whether an elected or an appointed official, is not to turn into a public information officer. There are systems in place under the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the incident command system (ICS) to handle that. In fact, executive communications must be integrated into that framework. However, just as a Mayor should not do the job of a press officer by trying to brief on the daily, intimate details of an incident, neither can a public information officer communicate in place of a Mayor, Governor or President of the United States.

The Northwest Flight 253 incident saw President Obama wait three days to speak and instead delegate the role of communicator-in-chief to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the White House Press Secretary both of whom used the now infamous phrase “the system worked” relative to security and response to the attempted bombing. This approach violated two fundamentals in executive communications in a crisis.

First, the country expects to hear from its President early in such a situation, especially one in his first year in office who is still establishing himself in the role of commander-in-chief. Three days is just too long in a 24 hour news cycle. Waiting that long to speak makes doing so look politically forced. Prolonging that moment won’t down play the significance of the event, but could downgrade the view as to the effectiveness of the response. Subordinate officials should echo the President and provide greater details as they are known.

Second, be brutally honest. Say what you know, admit what you don’t know and own up to errors. Attempting to spin in such circumstances will never work. Leaders must provide an overarching context in which the event has occurred with some details to assist in doing so. However, they must be mindful of too much detail as accuracy is essential and “facts” in the early stages of any event are fluid to say the least. President Obama’s reference to flight 253 terror bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as an “isolated extremist” was factually inaccurate. The “system worked” phrase is one that will likely tail Secretary Napolitano for the rest of her career. Contrast that to when President Kennedy immediately took responsibility for the Bay of Pigs fiasco and his public opinion numbers actually went up! While such a candid approach may not always be enough in a crisis, it will always be a good place to start.

While the situation in Haiti is obviously a foreign event, the proximately of the incident to the U.S. and the deep poverty of that country has caused the U.S. to essentially treat Haiti as a 51st state in responding to the catastrophic earthquake that has devastated the island nation. In this case, President Obama responded quickly with a clear vision for how he wanted the United States to assist its neighbor in need.

In the U.S., if there is one thing that the 9/11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina have taught us is that if all politics is local, so are all incidents, including those that have a national impact. However, understanding how to effectively communicate in a crisis does not occur through osmosis upon being elected Mayor or Governor or appointed to high office. As with most things, training and testing is the best way to get prepared for such a role.

Rudy Giuliani prepared relentlessly for a potential terrorist strike or other disaster inside New York City. However, executives, especially elected chief executives, are still often the least likely to avail themselves of such training and testing due to time management and sometimes ego. This can be a huge challenge for professional emergency managers and public safety officials who have to work with a chief executive unprepared to communicate and lead.

DHS has fostered training and exercises for leaders at all levels of government through the Top Officials Exercise program (now the National Exercise Program), a congressionally mandated bi-annual counter-terrorism full scale exercise, and through Mobile Education Teams (METs), which provides education seminars for governors, mayors and other elected chief executives and their cabinets.

To truly get the attention of elected leaders, the American public must view crisis communications and incident management as a core responsibility for any elected chief executive in this country, similar to crime control, housing and education. States, such as California, have developed training programs for their local elected officials to better acquaint those leaders with their role in a crisis whether it be a terrorist attack or natural disaster.

Trying to lead and communicate in a crisis with no training or simulated experience is as dangerous as trying to fly a plane with no prior time in the cockpit or even the simulator. The consequences can be catastrophic. It is time to acknowledge this simple truth and better prepare our nation by ensuring that those we entrust to lead it are truly ready to do so when it matters most.